Door-latch.



T. W. WHITAKER.

DOOR LATCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 14, 1914.

Patented Jan. 12, 1915.

ll IIIHL wi/bvwoozo THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. FHUTO-LITHO.. WASHINGTON D.

JOSEPH w. WHITAKER, 0FI\I0BLE, ILLINOIS. I

DOOR-LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, madam T19 5- Application filed February 14, 1914; Serial No. 818,717:

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, JOSEPH W. WHITAKER,

a citizen of the United States, resident of Noble, in the county ofRichland and State of Illinois, have made a certain new and usefulInvention in Door-Latches; and I declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the invention,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters orfigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure 1 is a side view of the invention with one side of the casingremoved and the casing partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a detail plan viewof the bolt. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 1. I

The object of the invention is to provide an improved gravity latch, andthe invention consists mainly in the construction and novel combinationof parts, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, a numeral 2 indicates a straighthorizontal latch bolt, having rectilinear motion on ways or guides 3 ofthe door or casing 4. A series of rounded cogs on the underside of thebolt is indicated at 5. A similar series of cogs may be provided on theupper side of the bolt, for reversal. An angle lever having an upwardlydirected body portion 6, provided with a curved upper edge tangent tothe lower edge of the bolt and having a serles of rounded indentations7, is pivoted at 8, below the latch bolt, to the door or casing, in suchwise that one or more of said indentations will engage one or more ofthe cogs of the latch bolt. The angle lever supports the rear portion ofthe latch bolt and is provided also with a horizontal arm 9, ofsufficient weight to hold the latch bolt in projected position, said armextending under and parallel to the latch bolt and terminating short ofthe edge of the door or casing 4. In this position the arm 9 rests upona stop 10, which is rigidly secured to said door or casing. The pivot at8 of the angle lever is located at a point near its edge which is mostdistant from the indentations and from the end of the arm 9, so that, inaddition to the weight of the arm 9, nearly all the weight of the bodyis disposed toward the latching end of the bolt. The indentations of theupper edge of the body portion are curved substantially upon a radiusfrom the pivot at 8, normally commencing at apoint'vertically above saidpivot. bolt may be beveled, to provide for automatic retraction when thedoor is closed. The lever arm 9 is provided with an upward The end ofthe.

projecting part or bearing at 12, which is designed to engage theunderside of the latch bolt when the latter has been drawn back to itsretracted position, clear of engagement with the edge of the doorcasing, which should be provided with a wear plate. Usually four cogsare sufficient on the latch bolt, the length of the series being alittle greater than the latch movement required,

and the distance of the stop bearing 12 from the latch bolt should beabout twice the length of this movement, when located as shown at theend of a lever arm a little over twice the length of the body portion atright angles to it.

In order to facilitate the use of the latch in a casing, the rear end ofthe bolt is de-' signed to be provided with rearwardly extendingparallel laterally notched branches 14, one above the other, theinterval between them being vertically ,suflicient for the pas sage of aknob shaft 15, and sufliciently long to provide for the movement of thelatch bolt. Each branch 14 is provided with a lateral end. lug 16 inrearof an elongated notch or slide recess to engage projections 17 of theknob shaft. The knob or handle 18 is usually elongated downward, orweighted, in order to cause it to assume through gravitation a normalposition in which the projections 17 of its shaft being in the sliderecesses are disengaged from the lugs of the latch bolt. The knob isturned in either direction to withdraw the latch bolt, which isautomatically moved to engaged position by gravity, the gravitating knobat the same time releasing the lugs of the latch bolt and returning tonormal position. When the door is shut the latch is moved to engagedposition, while the knob remains motionless.

I claim:

In a gravity latch, a casing, a cogged latch bolt having rectilinearmotion and provided cogs of the latch bolt and a gravity lever arm atright angles to said upward projecting ment of the latch bolt by theautomatic mo- 10 portion and normally parallel to said latch tion of thelever arm.

bolt, a rest stop below the lever arm, In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature,

a shaft between the extensions of the in presence of two Witnesses.

:' latch bolt and havin ro'ections ada ted to engage the end lugs o i szid extensio s, and WHITAKER" a gravity knob on said shaft designed tohold Witnesses: said arms in normal position disengaged A. G. WHITE,from said lugs, to permit the forward move- ERIC WHITE.

Gopiea of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. G.

